Responsabilidade civil por erro no diagnóstico causado por laboratórios de análises clínicas particulares

Abstract

It was sought to verify the viability of the stipulation of a duty of repair to the laboratories of particular clinical analyzes by mistake in the diagnosis. The wrong results provided by the laboratories cause injuries to legal goods, which must be repaired, even if the damage is exclusively moral. In view of the harmfulness of misdiagnosis, it is important to study the civil liability of laboratories, specifying when it is possible to impose the duty to repair and its limits. For this, the dialectical method of Hegel was used, which is subdivided into: 1-thesis, which consists in the presumption of truth; 2 - antithesis, moment of denial of the thesis; 3 - synthesis, phase of elaboration of a new thesis. Legal, constitutional and infra-constitutional rules related to the institute of civil liability were identified, which made possible their conceptualization and classification. The contract signed between the laboratory and the patient was determined, as well as the legal regime applicable to laboratory activity. Considering the possibility of the error in the diagnosis being caused also by the patient's doctor, it was ascertained the possibility of the patient's liability. The analysis of decisions of the STJ issued between 2000 and 2018, regarding the viability of the civil responsibility of the laboratories for giving the wrong results, provided a practical vision of the matter studied. In addition, it allowed a visualization of the repercussions that this error can cause in the life of a patient. It was concluded that the laboratories assume an obligation of result and have an objective and contractual civil liability, so that it is sufficient to prove their conduct, causal link and damage in order to blame it for an error in the diagnosis. The patient's doctor can be jointly and severally liable when he or she has contributed to the error, and it is necessary to prove guilt. Many people have been harmed by an incorrect diagnosis and many others will still be injured, a fact that reinforces the importance of this study and of knowing the civil responsibility of the laboratories